3.
Zulgan honored his word to Horain, he cared for Marig and raised him in his
hall. Once he was able to walk, talk and understand, Marig was given the task
of servant to Korvus, his half-brother. Korvus, four years Marig's elder, grew
to be vain and callous like his mother, Nareel. Like his father, he was a ture
northman, blonde hair, blue eyes, thick arms, tall and barrel chested. He spent
his days in hunting, combat-training, and learning what was his father's
domain. Marig grew to be the same hieght as Korvus with his father's broad
shoulders, but his mother's brown hair, green eyes, and trim build. It was
Zulgan's wish that Marig would be Korvus's 'brother in arms' and some of his
time was spent in combat training. Everything else was in seritude to the hall,
chopping firewood, cleaning Korvus's kills, attending the household duties, and
serving food. Nareel kept him busy with additional tasks, anything she could
think of for she still held the old jealousies of Llyssia. The truth about
Llyssia's death had become a secret among the Yargars. Nareel had sent those
servants who knew to sacrifice to the dark gods. Horian knew but never told
anyone and few people got the opportunity to ask him about it for he
disappeared with his servant boy during the winter. Zulgan and Nareel told
everyone she died after childbirth, this was accepted with suspicion but never
challenged. Many knew that Zulgan had bedded Llyssia during the crossing and
assumed that Marig was the half brother to Korvus. When Marig was raised in the
hall of Zulgan it reinforced that theory, thought it was never spoken of. Most
figured that Nareel had killed Llyssia, for all knew that she had sent several
of her servants to sacrifice that winter long ago.
Tweleve years after the death of Llyssia, during the spring thaw. It became
time for Korvus to join his father among the raids to the southlands. Zulgan
trusted his son's puissance at arms, so he would join him in the crossing on
his longship with twenty of his closiest men. Marig would be taken as well as
cabin boy and camp servant during the months that the Yargars ventured into
deeper territory. Soon, ten long ships filled with men set sail from thier port
city in the Yargar homelands. They sailed south around the Norsca peninsula and
into the Sea of Claws. Several storms buffeted the ships and once they were
attacked by one of the many sea creatures that lurked in the deep depths. A
giant shark that sank one of the longships with one bite of it's massive maw.
Many made it to other ships, thought their horses and what few men that did not
reach the surface must have satisfied it's hunger for it did not return. Marig
did not see the shark in the gloom of darkness and rain, but he could hear it
crush the longship while splashing about in the water. With the exception of a
few more storms, the crossing went on without incident.
The first stop had been into the northern shore of Brettonia where they made
camp in the frontier wilderness. The organized into three groups. The first led
by Zulgan was the largest and mounted on the many horses they brought with
them. They would venture into the south west, hitting the smaller settlements
that they could overpower with ease. Anthor group piled onto two long ships,
they would go down the river system and raid the villages along the banks. The
last group guarded the remaining long ships and served as a storehouse for the
slaves and loot the raiders brought back with them. Marig stayed with the last
group and performed the tasks of collecting firewood, cleaning game, and
cooking meals. It was a good time for Marig for once the day was done and the
chores finished, he got to experience the comradery of camp life. Men in the
wilderness on adventure often opened up to the people they travelled with. They
would say things that they would not say in the villages of thier homeland and
in the company of thier women. They told tales of course, and the business of
thier lives, making intangible bonds few would understand. During this time,
the social stigmas of status were forgotten and for the first time Marig was
treated not as a servant boy, nor a camp follower, but as one of the tribe.
The nights went by with campfires and mead-fuelled tales of heroism, women, and
the gods. They often spoke about thier lives back home; tales of thier
children, wives, and labours. Marig listened to them all; Olaf's tale of how he
lost his eye, Sturgar's greatest love and regret, the death of Hans's brother
to the sea. This is where he heard of the first tales dedicated to the great shark
that sank Funris's longboat. The shark, Golchuk as it is called by the old
traditions, had been the terror of many stories of the Yargar. How the sleeping
giant wakes at the time of the crossing to strenghten the Yargars for thier
battles abroad. A gift from Ahmrah, the god of battle, to ensure that the weak
shall never inherit the world. Marig listened to them all, drinking in thier
tales like the warm, sweet liquid he drank from a hollowed out horn of a bull.
During the day it became nessesary to begin contruction of the things the
raiders would need apon thier return. Corrals to keep captured livestock, pens
to keep prisoners, and storage to house the riches looted. Defences had to be
built around the camp in case they were attacked themselves. Food had to be
secured and prepared, which meant firewood, cleaning game, and the same
household duties Marig had been doing all of his life. It was different now
because he was no longer doing these chores alone. The Yargar worked in teams
to accomplish these tasks without the thought of status. Marig was no longer
burdened with the heavy work load by himself, he worked with others. Which
doubled his zeal in his duties, so much that when he was finished with his
first chores, he ran to help someone else with thiers. His youth and spirit
garnered respect for his name, and he was now treated with that respect. So
when the sun set and the chores done, he was warmly welcomed by the campfires.